It is well known that pagers typically alert their users to receipt of a page by supplying either an audible alert, which may be heard by the user, or a tactile alert, such as a vibrating sensation that may be felt by the user. It is also well known that in particular situations a user may prefer an audible alert while in other situations the user may prefer a tactile alert. However, it has been recognized that in certain situations the user's preference may result in an inadequate alert. Therefore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,438 issued to Yamasaki on Apr. 17, 1990 describes a pager that sequentially employs two alerting modes, first alerting with a tactile alert and then alerting with an audible alert. U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,389 issued to DeLuca et al. on Feb. 23, 1993 describes a pager that automatically changes its alerting mode from tactile to audible when it determines that it is no longer being worn on the person of a user or when it is in a charging case, since a tactile alert cannot be detected when the pager is not worn on the person of the user and such an alert can damage the charger.